By David Oxenford on March 18, 2013 Posted in Payola and Sponsorship Identification,Political BroadcastingLast week, the FCC Commissioners appeared before Congress for an "oversight hearing." In such hearings, Congressmen often raise many different issues that may be on their mind – everything from issues about the administration of the FCC to detailed policy issues. In the hearing before the Senate Commerce Committee last week, one issue arose that broadcasters should… Continue Reading

By David Oxenford on May 24, 2012 Posted in Political BroadcastingDoes a broadcast station need to book a political ad buy for an agency purporting to be representing a candidate, but refusing to reveal who that candidate is? We’ve recently received this question from a number of broadcast stations in a number of states, as agencies seemingly are jockeying to tie up valuable commercial time in… Continue Reading

By David Silverman on May 15, 2012 Posted in Advertising Issues,Political BroadcastingIn recent days we have seen political action committees (PACs) claiming they are "prohibited" from running political ads in primary states due to "new rules" regarding "electioneering communications." As explained below, these claims are incorrect. What they are really doing is trying to avoid the need to reveal the identity of their contributors, following a US District Court decision… Continue Reading

By David Oxenford on September 19, 2008 Posted in Political BroadcastingFailing to meet the obligations set out under the law for required sponsorship identification on Federal political ads could, theoretically, cost candidates significant amounts of money – if stations decide to hold the candidates to the letter of the law. Under the terms of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (“BCRA”), Federal candidates airing television commercials that refer… Continue Reading

About David Oxenford

David Oxenford represents broadcasting and digital media companies in connection with
regulatory, transactional and intellectual property issues. He has represented broadcasters before the Federal Communications Commission, the courts and other government agencies for over 30 years. Continue Reading

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About

David is a partner at the law firm of Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP, practicing out of its Washington, DC office. He has represented broadcasters for over 30 years on a wide array of matters from the negotiation and structuring of station purchase and sale agreements to regulatory matters. His regulatory expertise includes all areas of broadcast law including the FCC’s multiple ownership limitations, the political broadcasting rules, EEO policy, advertising issues, and other programming matters and FCC technical rules.